page_title: Khao Phing Kan
section_title: Khao Ta Pu
hierarchical_section_title: Khao Phing Kan / Geography / Khao Ta Pu
caption_attribution_description: Español: Isla Tapu, Phuket, TailandiaEnglish: Tapu Island, Phuket, Thailand
context_page_description: Khao Phing Kan or Ko Khao Phing Kan is an island in Thailand, in Phang Nga Bay northeast of Phuket. The islands are limestone karst towers and are a part of Ao Phang Nga National Park.
  About 40 metres from the shores of Khao Phing Kan lies a 20-metre tall islet called Ko Ta Pu or Ko Tapu. Since 1974, when they were featured in the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun, Khao Phing Kan and Ko Ta Pu have been popularly called James Bond Island.
context_section_description: Khao Ta Pu is a limestone rock about 20 metres (66 ft) tall with the diameter increasing from about 4 metres (13 ft) near the water level to about 8 metres (26 ft) at the top. It lies about 40 metres (130 ft) to the west from the northern part of Khao Phing Kan.
  A local legend explains the formation of Khao Ta Pu as follows. Once upon a time, there lived a fisherman who used to bring home many fish every time he went to the sea. However, one day he could not catch any fish despite many attempts and only picked up a nail with his net. He kept throwing the nail back into the sea and catching it again. Furious, he took his sword and cut the nail in half with all his strength. Upon impact, one half of the nail jumped up and speared into the sea, forming Khao Ta Pu.
  A scientific version of the Khao Ta Pu formation says that in the Permian period, the area was a barrier reef. Then, upon tectonic movements, it ruptured, and its parts were dispersed over the area and flooded by the rising ocean. Wind, waves, water currents, and tides gradually eroded the islands thus formed, sometimes producing peculiar shapes, such as Khao Ta Pu. Tide-related erosion is visible at the bottom of the rock.
  In the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, Francisco Scaramanga describes Khao Ta Pu as a "mushroom-shaped rock", which houses two large solar panels that come up on top of Khao Ta Pu and lock on to the Sun.
  
  Khao Ta Pu is also featured in another James Bond film (Tomorrow Never Dies, identified as in Vietnam) and in the Italian film Quo Vado? (identified as in the Philippines).
caption: Khao Phing Kan and Ko Ta Pu
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark II", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.4 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2013:12:07 01:12:13", "Image Artist": "Diego Delso", "Image Copyright": "CC-BY-SA 3.0", "Image ExifOffset": "264", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "14", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:08:20 11:29:04", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:08:20 11:29:04", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "415241/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "761471/100000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "17", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "78", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "78", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "5616000/1459", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1872000/479", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "4262104084", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[17, 40, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF17-40mm f/4L USM"}